Question
A 15-year-old child frequently gets into fights at school and has poor academic performance. Teachers often contact the parents, indicating that the child has behavioral issues, frequently loses their temper and gets into conflicts with others. The parents are very worried about this. How should a child with behavioral disorders seek help?
Answer
When a child’s behavior becomes extreme, it may severely violate social norms, being more severe than the mischievousness of a typical child or the rebellion of a teenager. Such behaviors may include excessive aggression or bullying, cruelty towards animals or others, severe destruction of property, arson, theft, persistent lying, skipping school, running away from home, frequent outbursts of anger, confrontational provocation, and long-term severe defiance. If a child exhibits any of these behaviors, a diagnosis can be made, but simply being antisocial or criminal behavior is not enough to serve as a diagnostic criterion. This diagnosis refers to a persistent pattern of behavior.